Killer ant 169882 219521410 2008-06-15T17:00:21Z SieBot 4005189 robot Adding: [[nl:Roofmier]] {{Cleanup|date=December 2007}} {| border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 0.5em 1em 0.5em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse;" |- ! Picture ! Name ! Range ! Comments |- | [[Image:Velvet ant.jpg|150px|Velvet ant]] | [[Velvet ant]], family [[Mutillidae]] | USA, Canada | Velvet ants are popularly known as "cow killers", but this is a fanciful name; they cannot kill animals as large as cows. There are hundreds of species: two of the most well-known are ''[[Dasymutilla occidentalis]]'' in the eastern USA, and ''[[Dasymutilla magnifica]]'', in the western USA. Note that velvet ants are not ants proper: that is, they are not members of the ant family [[Formicidae]], but are actually wingless wasps in the family [[Mutillidae]]. [http://ag.arizona.edu/urbanipm/insects/bees/velvetants.html] |- | [[Image:Fire ants02.jpg|150px|Red imported fire ant]] | [[Red imported fire ant]], ''Solenopsis invicta'' | Americas, Southern China, Australia | Fire ants are aggressive and have a painful sting. A person typically encounters fire ants by inadvertently stepping into one of their mounds, which causes the ants to swarm up the person's legs, attacking en masse. The ants respond to [[pheromone]]s that are released by the first ant to attack. The ants then swarm and immediately sting when any movement is sensed. |- | [[Image:Argentine ant.jpg|150px|Argentine ant]] | [[Argentine ant]], ''Linepithema humile'' | Argentina, Southern Europe, Southern USA, California | Very small, attack mostly other ants. The main [[Ant colony#Unicoloniality and supercolonies|supercolony]] (Italy, Atlantic coast of Spain) is said to be the largest cooperating ant population in the World. |- | | [[Pharaoh ant]], ''Monomorium pharaonis'' | Worldwide | |- | [[Image:Ant head closeup.jpg|150px|Red harvester ant]] | [[Red harvester ant]], ''Pogonomyrmex barbatus'' | Western USA | Bright red myrmicine ants whose venom is the most potent of any ants species. [http://www.tightloop.com/ants/pogbar.htm Images] |- | [[Image:Red bull ant.jpg|150px|Red Bulldog Ant]] | [[Bulldog ant]]s, genus ''Myrmecia'' | Australia | They are said to be repelled by yellow objects. Belonging to the subfamily [[Myrmeciinae]], these are among the most primitive extant ants. All but one of the sixty or so species are found in Australia. |- | [[Image:Paraponera.png|150px|Bullet Ant]] | [[Bullet ant]]s, genus ''Paraponera'' | From [[Nicaragua]] southward to the [[Amazon Basin]] | Bullet ants, and their close relatives of the genus ''[[Dinoponera]]'' are New World [[Ponerinae|ponerines]]. |- | | [[Legionnaire ant]] genus ''[[Polyergus]]'' | ''range?'' | Legionnaire ants are most interesting southern boreal obligate [[dulosis|dulotes]] of the [[Formicinae]] subfamily. Their host is, like a similar convergent species, ''[[Formica sanguinea]]'', ants of the ''[[Formica fusca]]'' group. Although absent from the [[British Isles]], ''[[Polyergus rufescens]]'' is present on the continent, and many observations of its behaviour were made by [[Auguste-Henri Forel]]. Like the unrelated British-found [[parasite]] to ''[[Tetramorium caespitum]]'', ''[[Strongylodus testaceus]]'' (first discovered in Britain by [[Horace Donisthorpe]]), the legionnaire ants display greatly adapted, strongly falcate mandibles, which they use for piercing the heads of ''F. fusca'' et al. during raids. |- | [[Image:Starr 050610 2340 anoplolepis gracilipes.jpg|150px|Yellow crazy ant]] | [[Yellow crazy ant]], ''Anoplolepis gracilipes'' | [[Christmas Island]] | They kill [[red crab]]s on [[Christmas Island]], and generally destroy the ecosystem for the other 17 species of terrestrial crab found there, including the largest terrestrial invertebrate in the known world (the [[coconut crab]]). |- | [[Image:Safari ants.jpg|150px|Driver Ants]] | [[Driver ant]]s, genus [[Dorylus]] | The Old world, esp. West Africa and the Congo Basin | Unlike the army ants of the New World, Old World army ants have a functional sting, but rarely use it; this is more than compensated for by their razor-sharp, falcate mandibles. ''[[Dorylus]]'' spp. colonies also reach larger sizes than ''[[Eciton]]''. The Siafu ants on Mount Meru in Tanzania were implicated in the death of a missing tourist to the Congo. |} <references /> == See also == * [[Killer bee]] == Killer ants in popular culture == Horror movies or novels involving fictitious killer ants include: * "[[Empire of the Ants]]" (1905 short story by H. G. Wells) * ''[[Them!]]'' (1954) * ''[[The Naked Jungle]]'' (1954) * ''[[The Monolith Monsters]]'' (1957) * ''[[Phase IV]]'' (1973) * ''[[The Deadly Invasion]]'' (1973) * ''[[Ants (TVM 1977)|Ants]]'' (1977 - TV movie) * ''[[Empire of the Ants (film)|Empire of the Ants]]'' (1977 film) * ''[[MacGyver]]'' (episode "Trumbo's World") * ''[[It Came From the Desert]]'' (1989 - video game) * ''[[Attack of the Killer Ants]]'' (1996 - novel) * ''[[Legion of Fire: Killer Ants!]]'' (1998 - TV movie) * ''[[Destination;Infestation]]'' (2007) * ''[[The Hive]]'' (movie) * ''[[Leiningen versus the Ants]]'' (short story) by Carl Stephenson * ''[[Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull]]'' (2008) [[Category:Ants]] [[nl:Roofmier]]